All You Need to Know About St. Patrick’s Day

Why is it important?
Saint Patrick’s Day, called as “Lá Fhéile Pádraig” in Irish, commemorates Saint Patrick as the leading saint who brought Christianity to Ireland during the fifth century and celebrates the Irish heritage and culture in general.

How is it related to Italy?
Historians believe that St. Patrick was born in Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland, which was technically a territory of Britain at the time. According to historical documents, his parents – Calpurnius and Conchessa – were Italians living on a British estate. So here you go, a good enough reason for Italians to celebrate the day!

How do I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day like an Irish?

Go Green: Pull out all the green stuff you have in your wardrobe and literally cover yourself with fifty shades of green from head to toe. Combining green with fashionable red and white stripes, buttons and pins are great, but make sure to keep the fun festive spirit! (Hint: Try painting shamrocks on the cheeks or go with a full-faced Irish flag of green, white and orange to really show your inner Irish soul.)

Learn Some Irish Words: You might want to impress your friends with these really cool words and phrases:

St. Paddy: This is a shortened way of saying “St. Patrick” (like calling someone named Michael, “Mike”)

“What’s the craic?”: This phrase can be translated as “What’s up?” or “How’s it going?” and is often used in casual settings.

Grand: This multi-purpose word in Hiberno-English can be interpreted as “fine” or “great” depending on the context. It is a perfect answer to reply when someone asks “How are you?”

Feed Yourself with Traditional Irish Food: We are simply going to skip the “Traditional Irish Drinks” part, because we all know that beer and spirits are the greatest consumable goods to come out of Ireland. Yet, Ireland actually has an incredible selection of cuisine as well, which will make you fall in love with the Irish even more. We suggest you go with pink bacon accompanied by traditional Irish soda bread to “keep it real”. Corned beef and cabbage are more of an Irish-American tradition, but are still some of the yummiest options of the Irish diet.

Enjoy the Day: There is no doubt that you’ll earn major points from the Irish once you go through our checklist and follow our suggestions. The last step is, of course, to have lots of fun! Check out our events at viaumbria.com/events and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day the way real Irish do!